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Isheeta Sharma

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We have all heard or seen the name Enactus around campus but how many of us, who are not a part of the campuses, actually know what Enactus is all about? A conversation with Vatsal, the President of Enactus CBS (College of Business Studies) that has won Enactus National Chapionship 2014 and is now representing India in the International World Cup at Beijing, cleared our doubts.

Enactus is an international non-profit students’ organisation spread across 36 countries which involves college students to make self-sustainable employment models for the underprivileged that would continue to exist even after the students move out of the circle.

Every year , a national competition is held in Mumbai where Enactus teams all over India come together to showcase their projects and the winning team goes on to the International World Cup.This year the team of CBS won the National Championship and left for the International World Cup on October 20.

There are three projects that they will be putting forward , the first being a sanitation solution project for women in urban slums where awareness camps are held to discuss menstruation, a woman entrepreneur is chosen who is then linked to the manufacturer companies for sanitary napkins. The appointed woman sells these sanitary napkins in her locality at a cheaper rate while earning a profit. This project has been adopted by the Government of India and is being implemented in 23 districts across India. The second project is called ‘Akshar’ where waste paper is collected and recycled to be bound in eco-friendly note books which would be sold in various colleges, campuses, companies, etc. The third is ‘Gramodhar’ where students have adopted a village called Ghamroj and provide it with income generating activities like poultry farming, beauty parlours and boutiques along with libraries and health camps.

With the final aim of winning and last touch-ups in action, the team is more excited than nervous to be part of such a huge event with various activities and a wide range of speakers.


Isheeta Sharma
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The metro has become an important of all of our lives, hate it or love it, we just can’t ignore it. We might end up cribbing about the crowd and the journey but we just can’t deny the fact that the way DMRC has connected almost every part of Delhi/NCR giving us a cheap and fast mode of transport is simply remarkable.
Being a regular and old metro commuter I thought that I knew almost everything about metros but (and this is hard to accept) here are some facts that even I had no idea about.

  • Do you roll your eyes at times when metro goes through a slight power cut where all lights and AC go off for a few seconds? This is actually called the neutral zone where the power supply is being shifted from one sub-station to another because the overhead extension (OHE) cannot supply power from just one station to such a vast metro line and hence, has designated sub-stations.

And we always thought there was something wrong with the metro!

 

  • Delhi metro has more than 200 trains. Together, these trains travel 69,000 kms everyday. The Earth’s circumference is a mere 40,075 kms.

 

  • DMRC have kept in mind their social responsibility and have made an orphanage for street children at Tis Hazari which is run by an NGO called Salaam Balak Trust. These kids are provided a library, computer room, study room, music room and open space for other activities.

 

  • Delhi Metro premises have no dustbins except in restaurants because eating or drinking is not permitted in the Delhi metro. Despite this, people do drink and eat but the metro premises are still mostly clean.

I have personally seen people keep the wrappers back in their bag instead of throwing them on the floor.
Metro is even inculcating good habits in us, apparently.

 

  • Most of the Blue line stations harvest rain water and Delhi metro is also the first railway project in the world to earn carbon credits after being registered with the United Nations under the Clean Development Mechanism and have earned 400,000 carbon credits by saving energy through the use of regenerative braking systems on its trains.

 

The DMRC has indeed made me a proud citizen and I will make sure I am more informed about the Delhi metro from now on.

This is not it, for a few more unknown Delhi metro facts, hit the link – Facts and trivia about Delhi metro

Emma Watson came into our lives as the extraordinary muggle witch through the Harry Potter movie series but that little ginger-haired girl who we all grew to adore has grown up to be someone we respect. The Actress as well as UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador delivered a speech on 20th of September 2014 at the UN Headquarters, New York launching a new campaign which goes by the name of ‘HeforShe’.

The idea behind the campaign is quite simple – let women and men be treated equally: socially, politically and economically. If we think about it, feminism is the word that we should be using here but feminism has, sadly, turned into a slang used for women who are too aggressive, isolated and most importantly, hate men.


In an attempt to explain the campaign Emma has first cleared the fact that feminism does not mean hating men, it is just a fight for freedom and equality, which needs to be fought by both men and women for the sake of humanity as a whole.
“In 1997, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the things she wanted to change are still a reality today. But what stood out for me the most was that less than 30 percent of her audience was male.

How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?” Watson said, formally inviting all men to treat Gender Equality as their issue too, to have their sisters and mothers free from prejudices but also to allow their sons to be vulnerable and human.

As a human being, it pains me to mention that a day after this speech Emma Watson was attacked anonymously on the internet where there was a five day countdown to make her nude pictures public online. However, no such thing has happened but it is a shameful act on our part as a society.

Despite that, we all should take heed of Emma’s speech and stand together for women, for men, for humanity.

#HeForShe

For more details, log on to: www.heforshe.org

 

Social Cops is a recent start up as a technology data company. The base of their ideology is to provide better nation-wide information by digitalising data sourced from the grassroots in order to empower decision making.
They believe that the problems being faced by humanity would be easy to solve if the right kind of information reached the right kind of people and for that they have been extensively working in the sphere of public infrastructure, public health and education linking themselves to various NGOs all over Delhi.

However, the new aim is to expand this sphere and include almost 50 million NGOs all over the country. They hope to do so by a 6 month long fellowship programme. “The basic idea is to travel across the country interacting with various NGOs and introducing them to different kinds of technology that they can use to preserve and provide more data and to bridge the digital divide that exists between rural and urban”, said Vasundhara Garg, part of the Social Cops Marketing Team.
“Him” representing Himalayas and “Sagar” representing the Sea, they wish to bring out the essence of their fellowship – to travel across the nation – through its name, Himsagar. Everybody is welcome to apply as long as they believe that they can hold conversations, travel smart, build relationships and believe in themselves. “In India, the Census happens only once in 10 years. We envision a future wherein we can leverage non-profits around the country and power data for the Census on a real-time basis. The fellows will be instrumental in building this future.” says Varun Banka, Co-Founder of Social Cops.

The application process is simple where you need to send in an e-mail to Social Cops expressing why you want to take up this responsibility in a short video with your resume which would be followed by two short assignments and an in-person interview.

For more details, visit their website – www.fellowship.socialcops.org

Finding Fanny brings a refreshing change from all the mainstream “action-item” song Bollywood movies that we are stuck with. Though the accented dialogue delivery in the English version will make you wonder – Do we Indians really talk like that? The movie in itself will not disappoint you.

Set in a small village called Pocolim in Goa where everybody knows everybody, quite contrary to the Goan image of partying and drugs that we are familiar to, it is a story of five different people who set out to find Fanny – to find love.
Ferdinand or Fernando (as Fanny liked to call him) played by Naseeruddin Shah receives a letter that he had posted 46 years ago which never got delivered (Thank god we have technology because the Indian Postal Service can obviously not be trusted!). The letter was for Fanny and Ferdie had asked her to marry him and assuming her answer was no when she never replied he had moved on with his life though always curing a broken heart.


Angie played by Deepika Padukone, widow of 6 years living with Rosie, her widow mother-in-law played by Dimple Kapadia urges Ferdie to go look for Fanny and tell her his feelings, for who wants to die not knowing what happened to the one person they never forgot? And so begins a journey joined in by Savio played by Arjun Kapoor, who was Angie’s sort-of love, because no one else knows how to drive and Don Pedro played by Pankaj Kapoor, the famous perverted and obsessed painter, because he owns the car.

In this voyage accompanied by laughter, anger, sorrow, secrets, paintings, brandy, love and a dead cat everyone must find and embrace that which was lost. Recommended for all those looking out for a simple and light movie with a pretty good soundtrack. Girls, look out for the dresses Deepika Padukone dons.

 

Delhi University is always looking out for news about its alumnus since it is not only great to hear about the achievements of people we consider our own but it also inspires us, as students, to always aspire for more. A recent addition to this, is that of Mr. Sunil Chopra who is the first Indian to become Mayor of the London Borough of Southwark where only a 1.5% people of Indian-origin reside is an alumni of College of Vocational Studies, CVS.
Mr. Chopra started out with a retail business and then moved forward into wholesale business along with being a Founder Trustee of the Southwark Hindu Centre. He was elected as the Deputy Mayor last year and after a re-election in May as a Labour Councillor, he was elected as the Mayor and took formal charge from June, earlier this year.
In his opening speech Chopra talked about the introduction of Robes Project under which temporary accommodation is provided to the homeless. He not only brings more representation for the Indians but also brings in ideas with an Indian touch to better the society and economy.

Mr. Chopra was a student of the College of Vocational Studies of Delhi University. Since his University days he was known for his interest in politics and had contemporaries like Arun Jaitley, Vijay Goel, Sudhanshu Mittal and Anand Sharma. He was the Vice-President of the Youth Congress of Delhi and the President of NSUI during his student days.
“Being part of Delhi University student politics helped me while contesting elections here. I was groomed by people like Ambika Soni and the late Deepak Malhotra (former NSUI General Secretary, Principal of Dayal Singh College)”, he told Hindustan Times from the office of Mayor.

Image source: www.london-se1.co.uk

It is that time of the year where we, the citizens of Delhi University, choose our leaders – The DUSU elections. The process for these elections, which will reach its climax on 12th of September 2014 with the elections, has already begun with the contesting parties declaring their manifesto and list of candidates.

One of these parties is All India Students’ Association popularly known as AISA. AISA declared its manifesto for the DUSU elections 2014 on 4th of September 2014. Here is a list of the major points that AISA brings out in its manifesto and hopes to achieve if elected.

Manifesto Highlights

Hostel Accommodation

Hostel accommodation is an important point being raised by all parties this year. A desire to have hostels in all colleges so that students are provided proper accommodation along with a proper rent regulation act is one of the major points that AISA wishes to take up.

Anti sexual harassment and discrimination cells

After various cases of sexual harassment and rape in Delhi there have been repeated efforts to ensure safety for women. One of those measures on college level by AISA would be the establishment of cells for the same in every college where girls can step up and raise their voice along with anti-discrimination cells to prevent the kind of discrimination happening with North- East and other students.

AISA has always been an advocate of women safety. After the gang-rape incident on 16th of December 2012 the led a movement called ‘Freedom without Fear’ demanding the Vishaka guidelines to be applied in all colleges.

Metro and bus passes for students

In an effort to better the transportation service for students, AISA demands concessional passes for students in Metro and recognition of student bus passes in all buses along with more connectivity by DTC buses and more DTC bus pass counters where none exist.

For this, AISA initiated a campaign interacting with 20,000 students on transportation and gathering their opinions and then mobilized students to Delhi Secretariat to demand proper and affordable transport facilities after which U-Special buses for girls in evening colleges were provided.
Many individual units of AISA keep holding protests for this cause.

Provisions for visually handicapped in libraries

AISA aims at making Braille books available in all Delhi University libraries for the aid of visually handicapped students.

Infrastructure development

Another major point in AISA’s manifesto is the development of all-round college infrastructures from water facilities to clean washrooms and classrooms and labs along with proper facilities and infrastructure for the physically handicapped students like ramps, sound indicators and other safety measures.

Merit cum means scholarship

Merit cum means scholarship is specifically for the economically weaker section of students and AISA aims at properly and strictly providing this scholarship to that section to ensure equal education to all.

Annual GBM for DUSU

Annual GBM’s will be conducted where DUSU will provide a proper annual report to maintain transparency and keep everyone informed of all decisions.

Other than these major points AISA also brings out other issues like:

Presidential debate before all DUSU elections
Stalling of unreasonable fee hikes
Reinstating the reevaluation process
Handling the FYUP B.Tech issue with a proper vision
More student participation in decision making process
Remedial classes for students
Hostel for PH students
Active grievance committees in colleges
Regulation of canteen rates

On 25th of July 2014 with 250 people and on 22nd of August 2014 with 1000 people AISA led protest marches bringing together all their major points like accommodation problems, ragging issue, women safety among others.

AISA’s list of candidates for DUSU elections 2014 are –

Madhurima Kundu, B.A Economics 3rd year, Hindu College – President
Aman Nawaz, M.A English, Dayal Singh College – Vice-President
Aman Gautam, B.A PROG 1st year, Sri Venkateswara college – Secretary
Vikramaditya, M.A Buddhist studies – Joint Secretary

 

Bipin Chandra, it wasn’t the first time we had heard the name. In almost every Indian history lecture the name was repeatedly announced for the authors we needed to consult. Without actually knowing the iconic historian all students of history knew him for all the help his books had been in the last minute finishing up of assignments.
Born on 27 May 1928, Bipin Chandra bid his final goodbye to the world of history on 30th August 2014.
Bipin sir had not just one but many achievements under his belt and even after his departure he would continue to be a huge part of the history world for teachers and students alike.
He had completed his Ph.D from the University of Delhi after completing his education at Stanford University.
For many years he graced Hindu College as a lecturer and then a reader and one of his students and current professor at Hindu College, Mrs. Suchitra Gupta talked about his good old professor days and his passion for history at a condolence meeting organized by the history department of Hindu College on 1st of September. He then joined the Jawaharlal Nehru University as a professor of history but his career did not pause there. He was also the General President of the Indian History Congress in 1985 along with being a member of the University Grants Commission in 1993 and the Chairman of the National Book Trust, Delhi from 2004-2012.
In 2010, he reached heights by winning the Padma Bhushan Award. Bipin Sir carved a niche for himself in the historical world and while his body won’t be around anymore his ideas through books like Making of Modern India, In the Name of Democracy, Essays on Contemporary India, India’s Struggle for Independence 1857-1947 among many more will stay with us forever.

th of August 2014, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) held its Annual General Body Meeting (GBM) outside the Faculty of Arts. The GBM was organized to bring out and discuss the secretary’s report, treasurer’s report and the audited report for the academic year 2014-15.DUTA The meeting started with Nandita Narain, President of DUTA taking the stage. She began with a reference to the weather and said that “It is a good day today, it’s getting better, not just the weather of the day but the black clouds that surrounded us have also started to clear up”, The black clouds being an obvious reference to the Vice- Chancellor of Delhi University and his notoriously famous FYUP.DUTA Meeting 1 Mrs. Narain congratulated all the members on working hard in their respective colleges and departments and bringing victory at last and relief to their students who are without a doubt the most important part of a teacher’s life. Other agendas that were put forward are regular appointments of teachers and a correct implementation of the 200-point reservation roster.Duta 1 Others demands like Subversion of the Act, Statutes and Ordinances by the VC, Appointment and stability of teachers working on ad-hoc basis, Implementation of API made the list with the major issue of Removal of VC and to look into the White Paper issued by DUTA. The GBM was followed by a march to the VC’s office. Picture Credits: Chirag Sharma for DU Beat]]>